Door opening and door check releasing device



1942- J. H. VANDER VEER ET AL- 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS JOHN H. VANDER VEER PARIS R. FORMAN BY ROSCOE D CON 4 Feb. 10, 1942. J. H. VANDER VEER ET AL 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JOHN H. VANDER VEER m N MQNA M 0 m0 w m9 Y B Feb. 1942- .1. H. VANDER VEER ETAL 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 M Y O mm m 2 1w WM DMmb NR A0 5 V s W is. W QN JPR Y B Feb. 10, 1942. J. H. VANDER VEER ET AL 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS JOHN H. VAR/DER VEER PHR'IS R FORM'fl/V ROSCO 0. CAI/{5 Q L I ATTORNS Feb 1942- .1. H. VANDER VEER ETAL 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEQSING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 5' INVENTORS III: ndr!'l/IlI/llI/lllllllll/llllllll'lflllllfllll N o f w 51% A 5 R Na m; .R H 5 a g N/C HR mm,

Feb. 10, 1942. J. H. VANDER VEER ET AL 2,272,732

DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet e "NIH" MIN"- N v INVENTORS JOHN H. VA/VDER VE'ER PA R15 R. FORM/N BY ROSCOE D. CON/(LIN g ozws Patented Feb. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR OPENING AND DOOR CHECK RELEASING DEVICE Application August 2, 1939, Serial No. 287,990

9 Claims.

This invention is applied to doors controlled by door checks and comprises in combination therewith power operated mechanism for shifting I invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of two embodiments thereof.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts as will be described in detail below.

In the accompanying drawings, in which two embodiments of th invention are disclosed,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the upper portion of a door showing one form of the invention;

Figur 2 is a front elevational view of the mechanism showing the air motor in longitudinal, central cross section;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the mechanism of a portion of the casing shown in cross section;

Figure dis a top plan view somewhat diagrammatic in form showing the position of the mechanism after operation by the air engine;

Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of the control mechanism;

Figure 6 is a front elevational view with some parts in cross section of a modified form of structure employing electric operating mot-or;

Figure 7 is a top plan view with some parts in cross section of this form of invention;

Figure 8 is a top plan view somewhat diagrammatic in form showing the position of the door after operation of the motor; and

Figure 9 is a circuit diagram of the control mechanism for the second form of the invention.

It is of course common practice to control the movement of doors by means of door checks which interconnect the door with the adjacent frame so as to insure complete closing of the door While preventing it from slamming shut. In A order to accomplish this function it is desirable, and indeed necessary, to so adjust the door check that it ofiers considerable resistance to the initial opening operation of the door which results not only from the action of the door check as such, but because of the leverage arrangement used to connect it with the door frame. In the case of door check controlled doors on vehicles th resistance of the door check when added to the inertia of the door at the time the vehicle is decelcrating often makes it extremely diflicult to start the door towards open position. In the case of air conditioned vehicles where the pressure therein is often above atmospheric pressure, a still greater force is necessary to start the door opening, all of which forces build up to a resistance which frequently makes it almost impossible to open the door, particularly for women and children. A broad object of this invention is to provide power mechanism controlled by the simple operation of turning the door knob in accordance with the usual practice in opening a door, which power mechanism may be arranged to perform either of two functions, and when desired both. One of these functions consists in shifting the point of pivotal connection ofv the door check leverage system with the door frame from its normal position to one side thereof to reduce the force necessary to overcome the resistance of the door check at the time the door starts to open.

The second function consists in applying an aiding force to the door to cause it to move a short distance towards open position, which function is particularly valuable on air conditioned vehicles in that the door is so to speak cracked open, thereby nullifying the effect of the differential pressure condition with respect to the interior and exterior of the vehicle. In accordance with this invention the mechanism may be arranged to perform both functions when desired. The two forms of apparatus illustrated in the drawings are arranged to perform both functions, but it will be apparent from the following description that either function inay be performed without the other if desired.

The full nature of the invention will be more easily seen by describing the apparatus disclosed herein in detail. The pneumatic form illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive will be described first. A door frame, wall or other structure forming the door opening is illustrated diagrammatically at l. Mounted in the opening on the hinges 3 is a door 2 arranged to swing in the usual manner. Secured to the door frame directly over the door is a casing C in which the mechanism of the invention is mounted. This mechanism includes a pneumatic motor having a cylinder 5 mounted on brackets 6 which are formed, as is clear from Figure 2, to provide end caps for the cylinder. At 1 is depicted a door check of a common type, illustrative of course, since many othertypes of door check mechanism may be employed. This door h k is secured to the door by means of a bracket 8.

As is more evident from Figure 3, a horizontally extending arm III is secured to the rotatable stud II of the door check so that the arm I swings in a horizontal plane. This arm is pivotally connected at ID to a link I2 which in turn is attached on a horizontal pivot axis I2 to a knuckle which is attached on a vertical pivot axis I3 to a bracket I3. The bracket I3 in the usual arrangement is secured on the door frame over the door in such a position that the arm I2 nearly completely overlies the arm I I! when the door is closed. It is because of this normal relationship of the arms that considerable force is necessary to start the door open. The nearer the door moves to full open position the easier it is to operate it because of the gradual separation between the centers of the pivot I3 and the stud shaft II.

In accordance with this invention the bracket I3 instead of being attached to the door frame is attached to a carriage I4 which is slidably mounted on a pair of guide ba'rs I5 supported on the door frame by means of the standards 9. The carriage I4 is connected to the piston rod I6 of the air motor which extends into the cylinder and is attached to a piston20. A spring 2| is interposed between the left-hand end of the cylinder and the piston so as to normally hold the parts in position clearly shown in Figure 2. It is desirable that as shown the piston rod I6 'oe pivotally connected at I5 to the carriage I4. Secured to the door on the same side as the deer check and adjacent the upper edge of the door is a bracket I1 which is provided with a cam surface I8 extending at an acute angle to the plane of the door, as is clear from Figure 3. Engaging the inner face of the cam I8 is a roller I9 which is rotatably mounted on the lower edge of the carriage I4 so that it may rotate on a vertical axis (see particularly Figure 2). The cam I8 is so proportioned that when the door is closed its outer end engages the roller I9 (see Figure 3). The left-hand end of cylinder 5 is provided with a port 22 which is always open.

Mounted on the carriage I4 for movement with it is a plunger 23 which is normally held in the position shown by a spring 24. A switch 25 is mounted on the door frame in a position to be engaged by the plunger 23 so that when piston 20 has moved all the way to the left in cylinder 5, switch 25 will close. The usual door latch 21 (see Figure 1) is controlled by the door knob or handle 26 and cooperates with the door frame to latch the door closed. When the knob or handle 26 is rotated in the usual manner to open the door latch 21 is withdrawn. Switch 28 is mounted in the door frame in a position so that when the door is latched closed latch 21 will hold the switch 28 open as shown in Figure 1. As soon as the latch is withdrawn switch 28 closes.

Control mechanism is shown in Figure 5 and includes in addition to the switches 25 and 28 an electro-magnetically operated switch 30, an air supply and exhaust valve 33, and an operating winding 32 therefor.

In the operation of this mechanism a person wishing to go through the doorway turns the knob 26. This unlatches the door and permits switch 28 to close. Upon the closing of switch 28 current flows (see Figure 5) from the positive side of the current source through the lower contact of the relay 3!] and to ground through the magnetic winding 32. The result is that valve 33 is operated to connect the cylinder 5 with a source of pressure fluid through pipe AS, valve 33 and pipe 2I. The piston 26 immediately moves to the left carrying the carriage I l with it. This shifts the pivot point I3 for lever I2 to the left separating it from the center of rotation of the stud II. The result is that it is much easier to start the door towards open position because it is easier to overcome the resistance of the door check. As soon as the carriage I4 moves far enough to the left the plunger 23 engages the operating member of switch 25 so as to close it. The plunger 23 is slidably mounted against the resistance of spring 23 so as to take up any overtravel. Current then flows through another circuit from the positive side of the current source to ground through the relay winding 30. The result is that the lower contact breaks its circuit and the upper contact makes its circuit. Thus a holding circuit for the winding 30 is completed through switch 28. The lower contact having broken the circuit to the relay 32 the valve 33 moves back to its other position disconnecting the pipe AS from the pipe 2I and connecting pipe 2I to the atmosphere. Thereupon spring 2I shifts piston 20 back to the position shown in Figure 2, carrying with it the carriage I4. Of course, switch 25 immediately opens, but this does not matter because of the holding circuit to the winding 30. The return of carriage I4 to its normal position relatively positions the arms I0 and I2 so that the door check is now in its usual or normal position to accomplish its function of closing the door without slamming. As thus described the structure may be complete for some uses wherein only the one function is performed of shifting the point of pivotal connection of arm I2 with the door frame.

The second function is simultaneously performed by the mechanism so far described in that as the carriage I4 moves to the left lever I9 traversing in a straight line causes the door to be moved to the position shown in Figure 4 by the air engine. This is of course accomplished by the reaction of the roller I9 on the cam I8. Thus in addition to reducing the resistance offered by the door check the mechanism actually starts the door to move for a short distance towards open position as soon as the handle 26 is turned. In the actual operation of this mechanism it is to be noted that as soon as the handle 26 is turned the door moves towards the operator a short distance. At the same time lever I2 has been shifted as shown in Figure 4 so that the force necessary to continue the movement of the door is decreased as before.

It is of course apparent to those skilled in the art that the roller and cam mechanism can be used to initially open the door as a single function in which case the bracket I3 would be secured to the door frame rather than the carriage. The combined functions are particularly useful as noted above in the case of vehicles whether air conditioned or not, so as to overcome the inertia of the door if one attempts to open it while the vehicle is decelerating, and in the case of air conditioned vehicles to help break down the resistance of the pressure differential acting on the door to hold it closed.

An additional feature is illustrated in these figures which may be used if desired. This feature comprises a switch 29 mounted on the door frame in a position to be engaged by the door so that it may be closed by a spring when the door reaches the position shown in Figure 4. This switch is connected in another circuit fromthe positive side of the current source to the wire leading to the magnet 32. With thb arrangement as soon as the door reaches the position shown in Figure 4 another circuit to the winding 32 is completed through the switch 29, which circuit is maintained even though the circuit through the lower contact of relay is broken at the time door switch 25 closes. With this arrangement the carriage I4 remains at its lefthand position from the time it reaches it until the door is fully opened and returned back to the position shown in Figure 4. During all thistime the pivot point I3 is shifted and the resistance of the door check to movement of the door is reduced. However. as the door gets back to the position shown in Figure 4 switch 29 opens and winding 32 is de-energized so that the valve 33 cuts off the supply of air to the engine and opens it to exhaust. Spring 2I in the engine then returns the carriage to the position shown in Figure 2 and the door check is conditioned for its function of closing the door without slamming.

Thus when switch 29 is used the operation of the mechanism for either function or both in combination is modified to the extent that the door check is only in its normal position while the door is closed and while'it is closing from the position shown in Figure 4. At all other times the I pivot point I3 is either in the position shown in Figure 4 or moving to or from it.

The electro-magnetically operated valve 32-33 may be of the type disclosed in full detail in Figure 38 of United States Patent No. 1,849,516.

The structure of Figures 6 to 9 inclusive will now be described wherein an electric motor is employed in place of the air engine. As before the door frame is shown at I with the door 2 mounted on hinges 3, in the opening. The door check I is secured to the door by means of the bracket 8 and the cam I8 is mounted on the door by means of the plate H. The levers III and I2 are provided and constructed as before and the bracket I3 is mounted on the carriage I4 which is slidably mounted on the rods I5 arranged in the standards 9, the casing C enclosing these parts as before. A roller I9 is mounted on the bottom of carriage I4 to engage the 'cam I8.

With this arrangement however a rod 48 is secured to the carriage I4 and extends to the right. It is pivotally connected at 4| to a link 42 which is pivotally connected at 43 to a rotatable arm 44. This arm is connected through a gearing chain such as a worm wheel in the housing 45 with the operating electric motor 48. Mounted over the motor in a suitable switch housing SH are a pair of switches 41 and 48. As is clear from Figure 9 switch 41 is normally urged to open position by a spring while switch 48 is from the positive side of the current source through the lower contactmelay 30 to ground through motor 48. The motor is energized and normally urged to a closed position. A pair of arms 49 and 50 are pivotally mounted in the housing SH in such a position so as to be capable of operating the switches 41 and 49. The lower ends of the arms 49 and 50 are positioned so as to be alternately engaged by the end of lever 44 as it rotates. When the door is in closed position as illustrated in Figure 6, arm 44 engages lever to a left-hand position which is reached when the" arm 44 has moved through an angle of degrees. As soon as arm 44 disengages lever 50 switch 48 closes and a circuit through it to the motor 48 is completed. At about the time arm 44 has moved through an angle of 180 degrees switch 41 is closed setting up a circuit through it for the relay winding 30. The contacts of the relay are then shifted from the position shown to a position so that the upper contact completes a holding circuit for the winding 38. As arm 44 moves on in the same direction carriage I4 begins its return movement and lever 49 is disengaged by the arm 44. Thus switch 41 opens but the relay remains operated to its second position through the holding circuit. Of course switch 48 is closed and so the motor continues to rotate arm 44 until it gets back to the position shown in Figure 6, having then moved through an angle of 360 degrees. Just as it gets back to this position switch 48 is open and the circuit to motor 48 is broken with the result that it comes to a quick stop. As the door completely closes the latch 21 opens switch 28 de-energizing winding 30 so that the relay returns to its normal position. Thus the apparatus is ready for the next operation.

It will be seen of course that this mechanism as disclosed accomplishes both functions of separating pivot point I3 from the axis of rotation of stud II and opening the door a short distance through the cooperation of roller I9 and cam I8. It will be seen of course that the single func- .tion of shifting the pivot point I3 can be accomplished alone if the roller I9 and cam I8 are omitted. Likewise it will be seen that the function of the roller I9 and cam I8 may be accomplished alone by securing the bracket I3 directly to the door frame.

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various details of this invention may be readily varied without departure from the scope of the novel subject matter herein disclosed. We do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited to this disclosure presented as it is for illustrative purposes, but rather to the scope of the claims granted us.

What we seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A combination including a door, a door check mounted on the door. a carriage supported over the door for movement, a linkage system interconnecting the door check with said carriage, and power operated means for moving said carriage to shift the point of connection of the linkage system with the carriage with respect to the door check.

2. A combination including a door. a door check mounted on the door. a carriage supported over the door for movement, a linkage system interconnecting the door check with said carriage, power operated means for moving said carriage to shift the point of connection of the linkage system with the carriage with respect to the door check, and means for controlling said power 0perated means.

3. A combination including a door, a door check mounted on the door, a carriage supported over the door for movement,-a linkage system interconnecting the door check with said carriage. power Operated means for moving said carriage to shift the point of connection of the linkage system with the carriage with respect to the door check, and means for controlling said power operated means, said means including a control device operated when the door is unlatched.

4. A combination including a door, a door check mounted on the door, a carriage supported over the door for movement, a link for pivotally connecting the door check with said carriage, a motive device for effecting movement of said carriage a. short distance to reduce partially the door opening resistance of the door check, means for controlling said motive device, and means including a cam secured to the door and a camming member secured to the carriage for causing said door to move initially a short distance when the motive device is energized.

5. A combination including a door, a door check secured to the door having an arm rotatably mounted, a carriage supported over the door for sliding movement, a link pivotally connecting said arm with said carriage, and motive means for shifting said carriage to move the point of pivotal connection of the link thereto with respect to the axis of rotation of said arm.

6. A combination including a door, a door check secured to the door having an arm rotatably mounted, a carriage supported over the door for sliding movement, a link pivotally connecting said arm with said carriage, motive means for shifting said carriage to move the point of pivotal connection of the link thereto with respect to the axis of rotation of said arm, and means including a cam on said door and a camming member on said carriage cooperating to partially open the door when said carriage moves.

7. A combination including a door, a door check secured to the door having an arm rotatably mounted, a carriage supported over the door for sliding movement, a link pivotally connecting said arm with said carriage, motive means for shifting said carriage to move the point of pivotal connection of the link thereto with respect to the axis of rotation of said arm, means including a cam on said door and a camming member on said carriage cooperating to partially open the door when said carriage moves, a latch for latching the door closed, and means operated when the latch is moved to unlatching position to energize said motive device.

8. A combination as described including a door, a door check mounted on the door, a carriage supported for movement over the door, a link for pivotally connecting the door check with said carriage, a motive device connected to said carriage, means for energizing the motive device to move the carriage, and means controlled by the carriage to effect reverse movement of the motive device at the end of its stroke in one direction.

9. The combination with a door, means for latching it shut and a door check for controlling the movement of the door, of means for causing a short initial opening movement of the door. means for partially reducing the resistance of the door check to said opening movement, power means for operating both of said last two means, and control means operated upon unlatching movement of said latching means to energize said power means.

JOHN H. VANDER VEER. PARIS R. FORMAN. ROSCOE D. CONKLIN. 

